Portlethen Community Council heard tonight from Aberdeenshire Council’s Kincardine and Mearns area manager Willie Munro about plans to draw up a town plan, “to capture everything we know about Portlethen.” One of its uses will be to prepare for the next local development plan. The community council, the local authority and Architecture and Design Scotland (http://www.ads.org.uk) will work together on the project, which will eventually be rolled out to all 26 communities across Kincardine and Mearns.

There was also a discussion on developer contributions, with Mr Munro promising to provide a report on dates and contributions for the next meeting (23 May). More than £662,000 is earmarked for a park and ride north of Hillside, however the Scottish Government has stated it is not willing to contribute to the £10m plus cost at this stage, which places the project in doubt. Unspent contributions are returned to developers.

It was agreed to give a £250 grant to Skip Hop towards the cost of sessions at the Jubilee Hall.

The Moss Preservation Group was praised for being named as the community champion at the North East Scotland Biodiversity Awards 2017.

The community council meetings in the academy are open to the public. They start at 7pm. One member of the public was present, along with an Evening Express reporter, councillors (me, Carl Nelson and Alison Evison), and one council candidate (Colin Pike). A representative of Aberdeenshire Council’s waste service is to attend the meeting on 27 June.